Saturday, May 27, 2017

Wellness is about our emotional and mental health as well as our physical health, they are all inter-connected.

I have this weird idiosyncrasy where I can tell pretty much within 10-20 mins after I've eaten something whether my body approves or not. I either feel bloated or heavy or uncomfortable and I'm a bit sensitive to it. I don't have any intolerances or allergies, I just feel a little uncomfortable. I also start to feel lethargic and despondent and eventually depressed. I have noticed that my emotional/mental health state is directly impacted by what I eat. This is even to the extent that when I eat unhealthy one day, the next day I wake up grumpy and dissatisfied for no apparent reason. It has taken me some time, but I can now see the correlation between the two.

So along my journey of health I have been experimenting with different lifestyle diets to see which one really suits me. Lately I have settled on leading a plant based lifestyle. This can be known as vegan but you could be vegan and just eat junk food all day eg chips, noodles and fizz, so I prefer to use the term plant based lifestyle. This includes eating mostly vegetables and fruit, some seeds and nuts and brown rice and not eating refined sugar or simple carbs. Meat has been relatively easy to give up. I decided not to be extreme with it and start preaching to people or get upset if someone offers me meat as I don't want that lifestyle either, but over summer it was easy to be 100% plant based so I could get a real idea of how I felt on it. During winter, sometimes I felt like a bit of chicken, so I just listened to my body and if I felt like it I would have some, I decided not to be too rigid about it. Bread is probably been one of the hardest to give up as I love the smell of fresh bread, but I know if I eat it, I feel uncomfortable and tired pretty much straight away.

Cutting out sugar is always difficult initially and I have done this many times. I just have a piece of fruit when I have a craving and gradually that happens less and less. I have found that I can't have any chocolate or sweet as it is so addictive that I just fall off the wagon again. Some people go on about moderation but I have found this almost impossible and I've come to the conclusion that I don't agree with it. I don't smoke or use recreational drugs in moderation and I have found it impossible to use sugar in moderation, I suspect in another 5 years or so sugar with be just as much the bad guy as cigarettes are today. I consider it a poison and that thinking motivates me to stay away from it.

One of the most important routines to great health is to drink enough water. This is often a struggle, especially in winter. I drink alkaline water (add bi carb and lemon) on waking, then another glass of water an hour later with soaked chia seeds.  I drink ay least 3-4 litres a day and I use 500 ml glasses to make it easier. I put a 1/2 tspn of Himalayan mountain salt in my glass of water each time because of all the minerals. Some people can't have salt but maybe that is the supermarket brands that have been over processed and are unhealthy. Salt gives me energy and if you are sick and have to go to hospital they will hook you up to a saline drip to hydrate you, so the medical industry already knows that salt is actually good for you. (If you are having a sugar craving dip your finger in salt and lick it, it will kill your craving immediately)

Sometimes I fall back into my old habits (bread and pastry!) and I need to detox to kick start my focus again and eliminate all the toxins. I do this by intermittent fasting where you only eat for 6 hours of the day and drink water for the remaining 18. You can start at any time of the day that suits you but make sure you count forward your 6 hours. I find it easy to start later in the day, so I have my lemon juice and chia seed in water for breakfast and begin eating around 11am, finishing with dinner at 6pm. When I am detoxing I am strictly on a plant-based diet. I get all the nutrients and protein I need from plants and I know when I am strict with this I can feel the benefits and I feel fantastic. I do find that my palette changes when I am eating healthy and after a few days on detox, I dont feel like eating the old rubbish anyway.

I love to have a smoothie everyday and I find this is a great way to make sure I'm getting a truckload of goodness in one hit. In my smoothie I add food such as spinach/kale or beetroot leaves, avocado, sesame and flax seeds, cucumber, celery, salt and water. Hubby makes up a carrot juice for his breakfast each day and I add a bit of that too but I don't put in much fruit because I don't want it sweet. I have them in the mornings and I find if I start the day with a too much sweetness, It gets harder to stay away from sugar as the day goes on, so I try to begin as alkaline as possible. A little bit of vegan protein shake powder also makes it a bit more palatable.


I also use Do TERRA essential oils and supplements for my and my family's physical, mental and emotional health. I love these products and use them daily to strengthen my immune system and combat any health challenges. To learn more feel free to look up  my website













So what have been the differences in my health since my lifestyle choices?
1. I sleep better
2. I have more energy
3. I feel lighter and quicker on my feet
4. I am enjoying a better mental and emotional state
5. I am enjoying better concentration
6. I am loving growing vegetables and knowing I am eating organic non GMO healthy food
7. I am loving being creative at meal time but mostly meals are quicker and easier to prepare
8. It costs less money to feed my family who are also enjoying the benefits

I think in this world we live in we need to make definite choices and be diligent in looking after our health if we want to be well. Food does effect our mood! Wellness is about our emotional and mental health as well as our physical health, they are all inter-connected. To read more about overcoming negative thinking read here.

We need to look at ingredients and be wary of what is out there and make choices that are as close to nature or their natural state as possible. We can be easily tricked by great advertising and packaging into thinking what we are putting on and into our bodies is good for us. We need to do our research and choose what we think is best. The good news is our bodies will give us feedback pretty quickly, or if you're like me and tuned into your body -20 mins! I think this is a wonderful in-built warning mechanism that we can use to assist us in our desires to choose health, we just need to listen to it.

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